6+ C - Democratic Underground

Javaman

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Wed Nov-18-09 03:56 PM
Original message

6+ C

Wow, 6+ C degrees. Think of that.

4 C rise is a civilization ender. 6+ C rise is extinction.

I work at my job, people mill about and go through their day. Pushing the papers, planning the plans, taking the meetings, continuing to be the good worker bees and grinding the wheat.

It's so amazing. Kind of amusing really.

I have been on this kick lately of reading "end of the world" sci-fi novels. You know the type: comet hits the earth and kills everyone with the exception of a few hardy souls that survive to start all over again or the earth is invaded by gelatinous beings out to eat our hearts and use our supermarkets as breeding grounds. You get the idea.

The one common thread that all of these "end of the world" (must be spoken in an ominous voice) have in common is that there is a period of panic. Where society as we know it, completely breaks down and people go ape shit.

Lots and lots of car wrecks, always many things burning, the random gruesome death explained in intricate detail and the hapless expendable character(s) die from over urbanized stupidity.

We have heard two things this past week, that under ordinary sci-fi circumstances would cause wide range sci-fi panic, but alas, real life does not always imitate art.

IEA states that oil reserves have been grossly over blown and that the concept of not having enough for the worlds population is going to happen much much sooner than much much later (as the oil corps would like us to believe). Where is the panicking? Where are the accidents, fires and overflowing toilets?

Pfft. We say. We are a hardy bunch, right?

No. I just don't think people care. They can get their gas, drive across several states to get to work, have their daily latte' and be back at home before the late late late show. Life goes on, nothing interrupted.

Then...

A group of British scientists stated that we are going to see a 6+C rise in temp by the end of the century at our current pace of CO2 spew-age. Negative feedback and methane release will kick in causing biblical type circumstances. So where is the rioting? The wanton looting? The road warrior survivalists?

Pfft! Yet again!!. Here in the northern hemisphere we are entering into the winter season. It's still getting chilly, so what's the big deal, right?

What? Me worry? Followed by: about what? The holidays are coming up and the rug rats need that new what-the-hell-ever!!

It hasn't hit people on a personal level.

Sci-fi novels suffer from one thing regarding end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it type scenario's. They are too optimistic. They believe people really care. That in those worlds of fictional disasters, the various characters give a damn enough to riot, loot, cause accidents and start fires.

In the real world, people will riot when they believe they have been personally wronged. Okay, fine, pent up anger, whatever. But not a thing when presented that, this, the whole world as we know it, basically ends in less than 100 years.

I responded recently to someone in another post regarding what it will take for people to get pissed off enough to demand change. My answer was: it will take the price of gas to go to 5 bucks a gallon (at least) before people get off their collective asses. Because, the patriot act has certainly put a fine point on the fact that people, honestly, don't give a damn about their rights.

Freedom of speech has morphed into "I have a right to drive!!! And no pencil neck politician is going to take that away from me!!!"

Or my personal fav, rather than protest, the gun right loons would rather believe the talking heads who are supported by the gun lobbyist, who state, "Obama is going to take away your guns!!! buy a dozen now!!!" So like good little lemmings, off they go to fill their gun racks and ammo boxes. But who is the real winner here? It's not the gun owner, he's out umpteen hundred bucks. He maybe worked up into a paranoid lather but he's still out the money. It's the manufactures. Notice how they never really have sales? Oh I get the circulars, there are "sales", but they are nothing more than mark ups of already grossly marked up items or they are just moving out old stock. They don't need a sale in the atmosphere we currently live in. Fear is their sales tactic.

So while the tea baggers froth at the mouth over their roguish princess, the world burns. So while we on the left scream and yell about health care, the world burns.

Yes, I would love to have single payer or a public option, but I just have this concept of wanting to live on an earth that, well, is still around and around long enough to allows us to be concerned about that stuff or for it to even matter.

Lastly, I have predicted $100 a barrel oil by the first of the year. $150-$175 by the end of next year. I stand by that.

6C divided by 90 years is: (roughly) .06C rise per year. PER YEAR. So that's little over 1/2 of a degree rise every 10 years.
By 2050, we will be at +2C from current levels.

Move north, young man! Who will be left at the very top of the world in their little row boat in 100 years?

Not me. I'll be long dead, but oddly, I still care. Go figure?